Crean looking to instill winning mentality in young team

With fans and media free to witness the IU men’s basketball team’s first official practice Friday night, the Hoosier faithful got a glimpse into the kinds of tactics IU coach Tom Crean is using to improve his current group.

One aspect of Hoosier Hysteria that is expected to be a staple in Crean’s regular practices this season are drills that produced a winner and a loser.

Crean said in his lecture at the IU Auditorium on Oct. 6 that 70 to 75 percent of all drills in practice need to have a clear winner to help train the team for the rigors of the upcoming season.

At Hoosier Hysteria, both the shooting competition and the scrimmage provided such training.

Freshman guard Matt Roth, along with alumnus teammate Todd Leary, was crowned champion of the 3-point shooting contest. Leary hit a barrage of bank shots, while the sharp-shooting Roth delivered more conventionally.

The outcome didn’t sit well with fellow freshman guard Verdell Jones, who along with teammate Chris Reynolds, didn’t make it out of the first round.

“I was really disappointed in the 3-point shootout,” Jones said. “I thought we had the odds against us, but if we do it again, we’ll win.”

Jones redeemed himself during the scrimmage, as he helped guide the red team over the white – players wore their practice jerseys to delineate teams.

Junior guard Devan Dumes also helped guide the red squad to victory, saying those on the winning side had some bragging rights, but the gloating wouldn’t last for long.

“We’ve got to go back to practice,” Dumes said. “I’ll get my laughs in tonight, though.”

Crean said he hoped the brief glimpse of the team will give the IU fan base an idea of how hard this year’s team will battle during the season.

“I want people to leave with an idea that this team is going to play with some energy,” Crean said. “That they’re going to be excited, that they’re going to come out and compete.”

The competitions also weren’t limited to just the players. While Crean watched from underneath the north basket, two of his assistants, Bennie Seltzer and Roshown McLeod, worked the sidelines during the scrimmage. Seltzer coached the red team and McLeod the white. Crean spent much of his time teaching, shouting tips and instructions from his post.

Bragging rights don’t apply for the coaches, however. Although his team won, Seltzer said he wouldn’t boast to McLeod about it.

“Nah, that’s for those guys to have fun with,” Seltzer said. “We just kind of wanted to come out here and play hard, and both sides did that.”